Spite Crush (Rock Hard #2)

Chapter Twelve

~Zak~

“Okay, cut the shit, Dempsey.” Naomi Rose stopped recording and slammed her phone down on the table as she glared at me.

“What?” I asked, honestly not sure what her problem was now.

We were sitting in her hotel room the morning before our game against The Cobras, since this was the first chance we’d both had to actually sit down together. She’d agreed to release a statement for me about my friendship with Kellen Fox, but she’d been acting weird since the minute I’d walked into her room.

“Look, I’ll write your little beard article,” she said. “But I thought we were friends.”

That was…interesting. We were friendly, sure. We had a nice, professional relationship. But I had no idea she thought of us as actual friends.

“Naomi, I don’t know what you want me to say,” I admitted.

“Look.” She shifted in her chair, crossing her legs under herself and leaning her elbows on the table as she held my gaze. “Right now, we’re so far off the record that I’m not a reporter and you’re not a hockey player. We’re just two people, in a room.”

But that had never been true. Things had a way of getting out. Case in point, the reason we were sitting in this room at all. She might not have been the one to leak the photos, but she’d created the environment that caused the situation .

Then again, if she hadn’t given Kellen my number then he and I would never have—

“Zak.”

“What?” I blinked as I focused back on her and realized that I’d zoned out for a minute. “Sorry.”

“I said, wouldn’t you feel better if you talked about what’s really going on?” She reached across the table and covered one of my hands with hers. “I can be a good friend, Zak. I can help.”

“Help, what?” I asked, pulling my hand away .

“Keep the heat off of you two,” she answered. “I can redirect attention. Like I said, I’ll post this article, but then…” She spread her hands. “I can just change the subject.”

“And why would you want to do that?” I asked, still unwilling to give her anything.

“Other than the incredible debt of gratitude you’d owe me?” she teased.

“Yeah, okay. Other than that.” I huffed out a chuckle. Damn, this girl was good .

“Well, as great as you are, Dempsey, you’re not the only player on the Inferno. You’re not even my favorite player. And maybe it would be good for someone else to get some press once in a while.”

“Okay.” I let out an actual laugh as I shook my head. “So you and Josh are cooking up this little scheme? Alright. I can get behind that.”

“You wouldn’t mind?”

“Naomi, I just want to play for as many more years as possible. The press is good for the franchise, but if I’m doing my job on the ice, I don’t need to be on television to keep getting paid. Give the spotlight to Josh. Fuck, give it to Ozzy. I don’t give a shit.”

“No one gives a fuck about a goalie, Dempsey.” She rolled her eyes. “But yeah, it would be nice to get Josh a little more attention.”

That sounded good to me. Especially since Kellen and I were going to try to see each other again. I wanted the least amount of attention on me as humanly possible .

“Can we get this statement done first?” I asked her.

“No worries, I already wrote it.” She lifted one shoulder in an elegant half shrug. “I can have it posted in five minutes.” She stood up and walked over to the mini fridge, grabbing two beers before coming back to the table and sliding one over to me.

“What do you mean you already wrote it?” My skepticism was clear in my tone, but she just grinned at me as she picked up her phone again .

“As much fun as the verbal sparring between Inferno legend Zak Dempsey and HSF lead singer Kellen Fox has been for their fans, it seems that the feud is over. Sadly for us, the two have decided to handle their differences like gentlemen, as evidenced by the photos leaked from a private event. While this invasion of privacy is disappointing, both the Inferno and HSF spokespeople have confirmed the truce. We look forward to new music from HSF and will continue to monitor the playoff run being made by the Inferno, who are on the verge of clinching the first berth in over thirty years for their franchise.”

“When did you write that?” I asked her.

“The night the photos leaked,” she admitted. “Come on. I knew what the party line was going to be. And I know the truth.”

“The truth? Please, enlighten me to the truth, Naomi.” I raised an eyebrow before finally taking a long sip from the beer she’d given me.

“That Kellen Fox is the prettiest man I’ve ever seen in real life and if you weren’t gay before you met him you sure as shit are now.”

And then I promptly spit the mouthful of beer all over my arms and the table and a little bit on Naomi as well.

She just smiled as she swiped at the droplets of spit on her neck and chest, completely unfazed by my stunned reaction.

“What the fuck did Josh tell you?” I asked her as I stood up and grabbed a towel from the counter to wipe my arms down .

“Nothing,” she said, yanking the cloth out of my hand and using it to dry off the table. “Do you really think he’d betray you like that?”

“Then why would you think—”

“I’m not fucking blind, Zak,” she said, tossing the towel back to me. “You never looked twice at me. I’ve flirted with you for years and you just shot me down every single time.”

“You are so fucking full of yourself that you think only a gay guy would turn you down?” I barked out a laugh. “Well I’ve got news for you, princess. You’re not that hot. ”

“Yes, I am.”

Okay, granted, yes she was. I might not be interested in women, but there was no denying that she was stunningly beautiful.

“Jesus Christ, Naomi.”

What really pissed me off about the entire situation is that I would actually love to have someone to talk to. Yeah, Josh knew. But he didn’t want to hear details. Not that I could blame him. I didn’t want details about his sex life either.

I didn’t have a single friend that I could just…talk…about Kellen to .

But she was a reporter. And that was dangerous. Too dangerous. Except…she actually was my friend, too.

“So what,” I said after a minute of silence stretched between us. I dropped back into my chair and crossed my arms over my chest. “You want to paint our toenails and talk about boys?”

“Oh, my God, yes. That’s exactly what I want,” she agreed. She picked up her phone once more and turned the power completely off before throwing it on the bed and facing me with her undivided attention. “Spill it.”

“Kellen Fox is definitely the prettiest man on Earth.” I couldn’t stop the smile that spread over my face. “I mean…he doesn’t even seem real.”

“Those eyes. That voice.”

That dick.

Not that I was going to get that personal with her. I wanted to trust her, and to a point I did, but I wasn’t going to go into detail about what had physically transpired between us. This conversation was going to be dangerous enough for me without giving her loaded ammunition.

“I really was annoyed with him at that first game,” I admitted. “I genuinely had no idea who he was.”

“That blows my mind,” she admitted. “HSF is like…the biggest rock band in the world. How could you have existed the last five years without knowing who they are?”

“Luck?” I shrugged. “Look, his fame is honestly my least favorite thing about him. It’s dangerous. And stupid.” I blew out a sigh. “This is so fucking stupid. ”

“Well, as a member of the press…which I’m not right this second…there has never been so much as a whisper about your sexuality. Which is almost weird considering you’ve never been paired with anyone publicly.” She rolled her lower lip between her teeth as she seemed to study me.

“What?” I didn’t like the look she was giving me.

“Nothing,” she said quickly. “Just thinking about the future. That if you wanted to carry a friendship line with him, and any rumors started, it would be easy to swat them down.”

“Don’t do that,” I said firmly. “Don’t start making shit up about me. First of all, Kellen and I won’t be friends. In fact, we’ve been ordered not to see each other again.” I couldn’t keep the bitterness out of my tone.

“That’s bullshit.”

“Agreed.” I shook my head as I took another drink from my bottle.

“So you’re just going to keep some secret affair going?” she asked. “Because let me tell you something, that’s not going to work. One of you is going to slip up. One of you will make a mistake and it will be the biggest story in both rock music and sports. You’d both be safer being friends in the public eye.”

“I know that,” I snapped. “But that’s not an option right now.”

“You are so fucked, Dempsey.”

She really had no idea.

But it was nice to get some of this off my chest. To let someone in for once. It was strange to be so famous and yet be so completely alone in the world. Yeah, I had friends. Good friends. But Naomi was the first person who actually wanted to talk to me about…I didn’t even know what to call what Kellen and I had.

Was it a relationship? Did I want it to be?

It was so new, I wasn’t sure there was a point to putting a label to it. But at the same time, I liked him. Genuinely liked him. And if we had completely different lives, I could see us building something real together.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t really an option .

My phone dinged and I pulled it out of my pocket to see a text from Kellen.

Kellen

What are you doing?

Zak

I’m in a hotel room with Naomi Rose.

Kellen

Well, that’s one way to stay in the closet I guess. Are you two having a nice time?

Zak

Relax. I’m just spilling the truth

about you and me.

Kellen

Ha Ha. Good one .

Zak

Not kidding.

Kellen

Are you fucking crazy?

Zak

Yes.

“Tell Kellen I said hi,” Naomi said, her tone thick with humor.

“What?” I stared at her, confused how she could have known who was texting me.

“You’ll want to control your face if you text with him while other people are around,” she warned me. “That smile is a dead giveaway. ”

Well, shit.

“Go on,” she said, making a shooing motion with her hand. “We’ll do pedicures another time.”

“No, we won’t.” I stood up and leaned over to kiss her cheek. “Say something nice about me after the game tonight.”

“Do something to earn it,” she said. “Dempsey, seriously. Win big tonight.”

“Is Naomi Rose playing favorites during a playoff run? ”

“You’re damned right I am. My boyfriend and my best friend play for the Inferno. I might cheer in public if you win.”

Honestly, that more than anything else she’d said to me cemented our friendship. I truly believed she’d never betray my secret. But now I knew for sure that she was really on my side. In hockey and in life.

“See you later, Naomi.”

“Knock ‘em dead, Dempsey.”

The whole time I was saying goodbye my phone was dinging with messages from Kellen, but I waited until I was in the hallway headed back to my room to read them.

Kellen

If you’re going to out me to the press don’t you think you could have given me a heads up?

Kellen

What happened to keeping this a secret?

Kellen

Are you seriously ignoring me?

Kellen

Zak Dempsey, you answer me right now.

Wow, he seemed genuinely pissed. Which, honestly, was kind of fun for me. So I left him on read and went back to my room to get ready to head to the stadium.